Rise of the Decepticons - Episode 4: Return of the Stunticons
by Crystine Decepticon
Summary: Heroic Decepticons AU. Episode 4 in series: Rise of the Decepticons. Motormaster returns to lead the Stunticons after Blackjack betrays the Decepticons. Please note: individual episodes in this series may be read as stand-alone stories.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The destruction of Straxus' Nemesis Army, thanks to the Constructicons' newest combiner technology, was still a hot topic of conversation one week later. Scrapper had given the combined form of his team a name – Devastator – which had become famous throughout all of Cybertron's major regions and city states, as the amazing feat of its heroic actions to crush the Nemesis Army and save Iacon had become the top news story across all public channels.

Inside the control room at the base in Kolkular, several of the highest ranking Decepticons were gathered around the center table to discuss various matters. Some of these matters concerned only the Decepticons, whilst other matters affected all of Cybertron; in particular, the imminent planet-wide energy shortage.

"Soundwave, have the Autobots made any advances towards preventing or alleviating the energy shortage?" Megatron asked, though not expecting any positive news in that regards from Sentinel Prime, or the Autobot Council of Elders – the supervisory and decision-making arm of the Autobot Command structure.

The Decepticon communications officer had been prepared for such a question and his response was immediate. "None, Megatron." He paused, watching the reactions from all the gathered Decepticons. Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp and Shockwave listened attentively, interested in what he had to report, as did Scrapper, Onslaught, Dirge, Ramjet, Thrust, Astrotrain, and Blitzwing. Indeed, the reality of a planet-wide energy shortage directly affected them all. "The Council of Elders has just imposed several power consumption restrictions for each region, according to critical demand. Most of Cybertron's energy output has been diverted to Iacon and the other Autobot controlled city-states, whilst the neutral territories have been given what is left," Soundwave informed them in his heavily synthesized, deeply resonating voice.

The latest decision by the Autobot Council to prioritise available power to the Autobots, and the remainder to the civilian areas, clearly showed that they were unwilling to share even a small ration of available energy with the Decepticons, regardless of the recent truce that had been made between the two factions. This left them all with feelings of anger and mistrust towards the Autobots; they should have at least been willing to share the energy and work together to achieve a common goal, but apparently they still considered the Decepticons to be as unworthy as all other Destrons.

Megatron stood up from his seat and walked over to face the main view screen in an effort to shake his growing frustration. "Soundwave, contact Sentinel Prime," he said after a moment of thought.

"Yes, Megatron," Soundwave replied, and a few seconds later the main view screen came to life, displaying a clear image of the Prime Commander.

Sentinel's expression turned to one of surprise and mild curiosity at having been contacted personally by the Decepticon leader. "Greetings, Megatron. This _is_ indeed a surprise. What can I do for you?"

Megatron did his best to keep his irritation from showing, but his impatience with the Prime came through nonetheless. "I see that the Autobots are not too concerned with preventing a critical planet-wide shutdown," he said and then waited for Sentinel's reaction, unwilling to elaborate further.

The Prime appeared puzzled for several moments, before it dawned on him what Megatron was alluding to. Regardless, he decided to feign ignorance. "Of course we wish to prevent such a disastrous situation from occurring. Why would you believe otherwise?" It was clear that Sentinel was not going to make this easy.

"It seems that the Council has decided to cut off our share of all available energy production; neither have they bothered to seek our help in coming up with any workable solutions," Megatron stated bluntly.

"Hmm. I see." Sentinel nodded solemnly. "It is a justifiable precaution on their part, I must admit. However, I do agree that we must combine our resources if we are to find, as you say, a workable solution." He paused, again in thought. "Let me speak to them," he added, and then severed the video link without waiting for a response. Megatron returned to his seat, looking none too pleased.

After several tentative moments, Starscream broke the silence. "Well, it's obvious that we won't be getting any help from the Autobots, then."

Megatron nodded, weary of trying to reason with the controlling faction. "Indeed. Until such time that they come to their senses, we will simply have to explore other options. It's about time that somebody on Cybertron devised a far more efficient method of replenishing and storing our energy, before we reach a state of critical depletion. Shockwave, Starscream, Scrapper – and everyone else, for that matter, this is to be considered a priority," he said.

The Air Commander nodded, all too happy to share his scientific knowledge with his fellow Decepticons to come up with an answer. "Of course, Megatron. We will begin looking into possible solutions immediately," he replied, speaking also for Shockwave and Scrapper. The purple guardian acknowledged him with a small nod, whilst the Constructicon leader placed a hand under his chin in thought.

"What is the current status of our energy resources?" Megatron wanted to know.

Thundercracker answered him. "We're down a little, after our confrontation with the Nemesis Army. We aren't at critical levels yet, though without our share of the baseload we'll need to be more careful."

"Agreed. Thundercracker, see to it that unnecessary usage is avoided. Our defenses, as well as our laboratories, must be given precedence," Megatron told him. He hated to have to restrict their own energy usage, just as the Autobots had done, but he saw no other choice.

"Will do," the blue and grey seeker replied.

"We should probably stop accepting new recruits, too," Onslaught suggested, "at least until our energy reserves are back up."

Megatron pondered the situation for a brief moment. "How many do we have?" he asked in curiosity.

"We've had a lot of interest just in the last week – though it's really no surprise after what happened with the zombie army. I'd say about twenty have completed their initial training with us and are ready to join, plus another twenty-five have just started. And that's not even counting those who failed initial tests," Onslaught explained. He and his team of Combaticons were in charge of new enlistments.

These were good figures, reflecting the steadily increasing number of new recruits wanting to join the Decepticons every week. Most of them were Destrons, though some were mechs who had come from non-Destron regions of Cybertron.

"I agree with your recommendation," Megatron said to the Combaticon leader. Then he glanced once more at all those gathered, noting an absence. "Where is Blackjack?" he asked. His Decepticons exchanged doubtful glances with one another; they did not know the current whereabouts of the leader of the Stunticons – the team of Destron car-formers previously led by Motormaster, but which had then joined the Decepticons under Blackjack's leadership.

"Blackjack's location is unknown. I sent him a request prior that he be in attendance at this meeting," Soundwave informed him. "I can track him down if you wish."

Megatron waved a hand dismissively. "No, we have more pressing matters to deal with." Then, before ending the meeting, he added, "But if you happen to see him tell him I wish to speak with him."

* * *

"Yeeee _haaaw_!"

The screeching of tyres could be heard echoing around a circular track within the central district of what was normally the uneventful industrial region of Tagon Heights. Several onlookers had ventured out from the dwellings and factories nearby to watch a group of five car-formers race around the makeshift track as if there was no tomorrow, and tough luck to any mech who needed to use the highway for travel.

Wildrider swerved dangerously close to avoid his team mate, laughing like a crazy mech. "Come on, Drag Strip, last one around is a cyber chicken! _Yeeee _haaa!"

The yellow race car revved his engine and hit full throttle, shooting past Wildrider without a second thought. "Eat my dust!" he said, and was already several car lengths ahead of his team mate before Wildrider straightened out and sped down the track determined to catch up and overtake him.

Meanwhile, Dead End was enjoying disrupting traffic by scaring away any road users who dared to venture too close, forcing them to take an alternative route. "Hey, watch it!" he yelled out after Wildrider in irritation, "I spent all day yesterday using the ultrasonic cleaner, you know."

His team mate, Breakdown, was not impressed, as he practiced tight turning circles on and off the road and pedestrian walkway. Ignoring Dead End's complaint, he spotted their leader in robot mode walking towards a nearby domed structure. Blackjack had promised them a fun day out, and had led them several hundred mechano-miles away from their base in Kaon to the neutral Tagon Heights, where they did not need to worry about bumping into any Autobots or Destrons. "Hey, where are you going? Wait for us!" he called out.

The black Stunticon leader quietly turned to glance back at him. "No, just wait here. I won't be long." Then he continued on his way, and slipped quietly into the building.

* * *

The interior of the domed structure was dark and sparsely furnished, with a few tables and chairs set out along one wall. On the opposite side of the room, a sealed door led into an underground passageway. As soon as the door of the main entrance slid closed behind him, Blackjack stopped to look around the room until his gaze settled upon the mech he had been expecting to see, who sat at one of the tables waiting for him, his partner and sidekick sitting beside him.

Blackjack approached the two and gave the larger, silver and red mech a curt nod, then sat down in a chair opposite. He glanced briefly over his shoulder for a moment, making sure he was alone. "What do you want, Black Shadow?"

"To put it simply, I want that new merging technology that the _Decepticons_ have created," Black Shadow said bluntly.

Blackjack gave him a doubtful look, and then shook his head. "_You_ want it, or Overlord?"

The other mech shrugged. "Does it really matter?" There was a brief lull in the conversation, and then he prompted, "So, can you get it for me?"

Blackjack thought for a moment. "I'll have to convince the Constructicons to share it with me." He imagined requesting the combiner technology from Scrapper, only to be told that he would have to run it by Megatron, or would simply be refused outright. It wasn't going to be easy, but he was willing to try if the incentive was good enough.

"I don't care how you do it. Just get it for me," was Black Shadow's reply.

"What's in it for me?" Blackjack asked after a moment of contemplation.

Black Shadow grinned, snapped his fingers. "Blue? Show 'em."

The mech sitting beside Black Shadow, who sported a sleek blue build, reached down with one hand to retrieve an unmarked case. He lifted it up onto the table, stood up and proceeded to unlock the case. Then he opened the lid and turned the case around so that Blackjack could see its contents: an entire caseload of sparkling pink natural energon crystals. There was enough there to satisfy his and his team's energy needs for many months at least.

"Keep it; this case is yours. And there's more where that came from, too," Black Shadow told the Stunticon leader with a satisfied grin. He knew that Blackjack would not be able to resist his offer. "So, are you in or what?"

With a straight face, Blackjack slammed the lid closed and locked it down, and then stood up from his chair, nodded once. "You've got yourself a deal, Black Shadow," he answered assuredly before turning and heading for the exit, clutching the case securely by his side as he went.

When he stepped outside again his fellow Stunticons were waiting for him, curious to know what he'd been up to, but Blackjack simply transformed into a black coupe, safely stashing his case of crystals inside his vehicle alt mode. "Come on, I'll race you guys back to Kaon!" he said as he moved off at full speed onto the highway, tyres spinning as he went.

Wildrider was the first to race after him down the highway, eager for the opportunity to release some of his excess energy on the roads – and upon other unsuspecting road users. "Woohoo! Let's _gooooo_!" he called out before crossing back onto the highway from the walkway and almost colliding with a startled pedestrian, leaving Drag Strip, Breakdown and Dead End behind. It didn't take Drag Strip long to follow suit, and then finally Breakdown and Dead End, who were not particularly eager to race against their team mates but did not want to be left out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

As the day cycle drew to a close, the hallways of the Decepticons' Kolkular base in Kaon echoed with mechs who were retreating to their quarters for the night. With the current restrictions on energy now in place, nobody could afford to consume more than their fair share of energon, or stay up too late into the recharge cycle.

As Brawl passed the common room on his way to his quarters, he was startled to hear the distant sounds of revving car engines and lively shouting further down the corridor, and he stopped to listen. After a moment he shook his head, and then continued walking. The noise seemed to get louder with every step he took, until he turned the corner at the end of the passage to find two of the Stunticons in their car modes, blocking the hallway as they shouted and laughed with one another. As soon as they saw the Combaticon, they transformed into their robot modes and approached him.

"Hey, look who's here, Dead End!" shouted Wildrider to his team mate. "It's _Braaawl_!"

Dead End acknowledged his partner with a sour look, but then turned his attention elsewhere. "Eh, who cares? Let's go find Blackjack. I want some more of that booster!" he said, before transforming back into his vehicle mode and zooming past Brawl on his way back down the hall. As he did so, he narrowly avoided bumping into the strongly-built Decepticon.

Brawl noticed immediately that they were both over-energized. He turned to watch Dead End navigate around the corner behind him, and the burgundy, grey and white car almost swerved too close to the wall. In the same moment, Wildrider transformed and accelerated to catch up to his fellow Stunticon, and Brawl did not have time to move out of the way as Wildrider veered into him, catching him off-balance and pushing him backwards onto the floor. "Hey, watch it!" he called out to them, growling and clenching his fists in anger before picking himself up again, but the two Stunticons were already out of audio range down the hall.

* * *

Inside the common room, Drag Strip had persuaded Breakdown to join him in celebrating Blackjack's recently acquired case of energon crystals. Upon querying their team leader about how it had come to be in his possession, Blackjack had simply told them that an old friend owed him for helping him out with a favour a long time ago, and then added that there were still another two or three more cases of the stuff to come. They had been happy enough with his explanation, and had not questioned him further.

Having already had their fill of energon from the communal automatic dispenser set into the far wall, Drag Strip stood up and walked over to it again, intending to get a refill for himself and his team mate, but when he pressed the button on the dispenser and placed his empty canister underneath the nozzle, nothing happened. He tried again; still no fresh energon, as Breakdown got up from his seat and walked over to see what was taking his friend so long. Drag Strip hit the button several more times, growing increasingly more frustrated, before finally banging his fist against the machine and giving up. "This thing must be broken or something," he explained, as Breakdown pressed the button in his own attempts at getting the dispenser to work, "and I'm still not over-energized enough."

Breakdown turned to his team mate and shrugged. "We could always ask Blackjack for another few crystals, you know," he said.

That seemed to cheer up the yellow dragster, and he clapped Breakdown on the back. "That's a great idea. Why didn't I think of that?"

They both turned away from the dispenser and began to make their way out of the room in search of Blackjack, but were stopped short by a blue and grey seeker, who was looking at them both with a calm yet stern expression. How long had he been standing behind them, they did not know. The two Stunticons attempted to casually side step him, but he pushed them back with his hands. "Not so fast." He paused, observing them with a critical optic. "Where the slag have you guys been all day?"

"Oh, Thundercracker," Breakdown greeted him. He tried not to come across as nervous, and told himself that there was no reason to be; neither of them had actually done anything wrong. "Something up?"

Thundercracker dispensed with the greetings. "First of all, getting over-energized is off limits, or didn't you two get the notice yet?" They both gave him an add look, but he ignored them. "And second of all, what's a great idea?"

Drag Strip shrugged. "Uh, nothin'." He recalled Blackjack asking them all not to tell anybody else about the energon crystals, because 'we wouldn't want to stir up unnecessary trouble.'

Thundercracker frowned at his dismissive response, crossed his arms in thought. "Nothing, huh? If you two are lying to me–"

"Lying? No way, we're not lying," Breakdown cut in, trying to sound surprised. He glanced over at Drag Strip for support. "Are we?"

"Nope," Drag Strip said, shaking his head a little too emphatically for Thundercracker's liking.

The seeker continued to watch them, until finally he gave them a small sigh. "Go on, get out of here," he told them, stepping aside to allow them to walk past him. He watched them head quickly towards the exit, but then called out after them before they left the common, "By the way, tell Blackjack that Megatron wants to see him," but he received no response from either Drag Strip or Breakdown, as the two transformed into their vehicle modes and sped away down the hall.

* * *

Inside the Constructicons' laboratory Scrapper sat at his terminal, going over the schematics of the planet's major power junction points and reviewing the data readout of the main distribution system. All the overhead lights had been dimmed to their minimum settings, and most of the other terminals in the lab had been powered down in an effort to help conserve power. In fact, the rest of his team mates had already retreated to their recharge berths for the night, and he was almost ready to join them.

He leaned back in his seat, pondering the energy situation, when he heard the sound of movement behind him. Startled, he stood up and glanced around to see if there was anybody there. Due to the semi-darkness, he probably hadn't noticed anyone entering the lab, or perhaps he had been too focused on his task. "Hook, is that you?" He received no immediate answer, so he stepped away from his desk to get a better look.

"Sorry; I didn't mean to startle you," said a not-too-familiar voice, and it took Scrapper a moment or two to realize who had spoken. The figure of a black mech stepped closer towards the Constructicon leader, revealing his identity.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Scrapper asked, a little confused. He could never recall a time when Blackjack – or any of the Stunticons, for that matter – had stepped inside his laboratory for any reason other than scheduled repairs or maintenance – and certainly not after hours.

"You're just the mech I wanted to see, actually," Blackjack said, looking around the work spaces as if it were the first time he'd ever stepped foot inside the lab. "I'm very curious to learn more about the combiner technology you created."

Scrapper powered down his work station, and then shook his head dismissively as he began to make his way past Blackjack. "Can't it wait until tomorrow?" he said.

The Stunticon stepped in front of his path. "No," he answered determinedly, but then backed off a little, not wanting to raise suspicion. "I mean, I really want to see if my own team can adopt the same technology."

Scrapper hesitated. For some reason, he felt uncomfortable with the way Blackjack had approached him about the topic. "Look, it's not that simple. First, we need to make absolutely sure that every team member is one hundred percent compatible with one another, otherwise it won't work." He paused, pushed his way past the mech. "And besides, I won't agree to do anything without Megatron's permission first." Once he reached the door to the lab, he turned back briefly, slight hesitation in his mannerisms as he reconsidered the request. "I can't promise you anything, but I'll run some tests to see if your team's compatible. Meet me at the workshop tomorrow." And with that he walked out of the lab, leaving Blackjack alone.

* * *

Just outside an oil house in the district of Tesarus, only a few mechano-miles away from Kolkular, a brawl had broken out. Several Destrons had become angered over the recent closure of the bar, and had decided to confront its owner over the fact, who had tried to explain to them that he could no longer afford to run the bar because the Autobots had cut off his primary power supply.

This confrontation had quickly attracted other mechs down the street, who had just been dealt a similar blow, and it wasn't long before they began to gather together, smaller groups merging to form larger ones. It soon began to dawn on them that all of Kaon was feeling the sting of the energy restrictions, and that the oil house was not an isolated incident at all. So instead of quietening down and dissipating, the initial brawl soon turned into an all-out street riot.

Mechs began to march down the main street of Tesarus, shouting and throwing empty canisters at buildings in anger. Some of them had even started to loot and steal whatever they could find that was of value – energon cylinders, trading chips, rubies, batteries, tools, even weapons – anything and everything was fair game, and it seemed that nothing could stop these disgruntled mechs.

As the growing mob made its way noisily down the main street, most of the town's residents turned and fled upon its approach, looking for somewhere they could hide, afraid for their safety, whilst others decided that it was safer to join the mob than to become a victim of it.

But one mech was not afraid at all. Originally from Kolkular, this particular Destron had been forcibly removed from the fortress capital when the Liege Maximus had been ousted, and not only that but he had been betrayed by those closest to him. Soon after, he'd taken up residence in Tesarus, but he had never forgotten that incident when he'd been unceremoniously replaced as Stunticon leader several months ago by that scheming Blackjack, and had made a vow since then that he would one day even the score.

He stood up from his chair inside his cramped apartment, canister in hand, and walked over to the small window to peer out into the street. Then he growled, finished off his drink, and crushed the can in his hand. Releasing it, it dropped to the floor with a clang and he kicked it aside, then he opened his front door and stepped outside the mediocre apartment block. The mob was getting closer; soon it would be upon his doorstep.

It had been a while since he'd had any fun, he thought. So he transformed into his alternate mode – a black, purple and grey semi-trailer – and rumbled onto the road, slowly picking up speed as he headed straight for the mob.

When the angry protesters realized that they would soon be facing a head-on collision with a large truck, they scrambled to get out of the way, throwing themselves to the side of the road to avoid getting trampled beneath his wheels. But Motormaster would slow down for nobody, only too willing to take his frustrations out on whomever he could for the way he'd been mistreated, and to prove to himself that he was still the king of the road.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Early next morning Blackjack and his team of Stunticons arrived at the Constructicons' workshop, located not too far down the hall from their laboratory, on the second floor inside the Central Tower.

"What are we doing here first thing in the morning, anyway?" Dead End whinged to his team leader. "I'm not feeling too good right now."

"That's probably because you have a hangover," Blackjack retorted, as he stepped inside the workshop to look around. Other than his own team, there appeared to be nobody else about. "I did warn all of you not to overdo it, didn't I?" But all he received were moans and grumbles in protestation.

Then he heard a voice speak up from near one of the work benches in the far side of the room. "I couldn't help but overhear…" it said, and a mech stepped forward until Blackjack and his team could see him clearly. He was accompanied by a second mech, and Blackjack recognized them as two of the Constructicons; Mixmaster and Scavenger. It was Scavenger who had spoken. "We have energy restrictions in place. You shouldn't have gotten over-energized."

Blackjack walked up to face the two of them, looked Scavenger up and down as if to try and intimidate him, but the face mask he wore made it virtually impossible for anyone to read his expression. "That's really not any of your business, now is it?" he replied.

"Well, actually, it–" Scavenger attempted to explain, but was cut short.

"Where's Scrapper?" Blackjack demanded.

It was Mixmaster's turn to speak. "He's not here yet," he said, stating the obvious, and then added, "Have you checked the lab? He's usually in there, if he's not in here."

Blackjack stared at him for several moments. "He said to meet him here. It's no problem, we'll just wait for him," he replied, and then turned and walked back to his team mates. He pulled up an empty chair, sat down and leaned back, looking more than happy to wait for the Constructicon leader as if he had all the time in the world.

Dead End sat himself down on one of the work benches, while Drag Strip walked around on an uninvited tour of the workshop, picking up the odd curious item and then placing it back down again. Breakdown followed his lead, exploring a shelf full of tools at the other end of the room, and as he reached up to grab something from the top shelf, Scavenger leaped towards him in an effort to stop him.

"No, don't touch that!" Scavenger called out, just as a container filled with unstable fragments of ormus crystals slipped out of Breakdown's grasp, most of its contents spilling to the floor. He scrambled to grab the container before it rolled off the shelf, and immediately started to gather the precious crystals from the floor.

Mixmaster bent down to help him, and when they were finished he turned to face Breakdown, who stood before them watching in curiosity without offering to help. "Perhaps you should all leave," he told them in frustration, "before you start doing some _real_ damage around here."

But Blackjack did not appreciate being spoken to in such a manner, and he kicked up his feet onto a bench, clasping his hands behind his head. "No way – not until we see Scrapper," he said, looking back at him defiantly.

Mixmaster frowned in anger, and was about to tell the Stunticon leader where he could shove his exhaust pipe when Scrapper entered the workshop, followed by Hook. Scrapper stopped short when Blackjack got up from his chair to approach him.

"We're ready," Blackjack said, only to receive a look of confusion from Scrapper, so he reminded him, "You know, for the combiner tech?"

Scrapper rubbed at the side of his helm in thought, looking back at Blackjack in surprise, not to mention a little apprehension. Apparently, he hadn't realized just how keen Blackjack was about the combiner technology, and hadn't expected to see him again so soon. He glanced over at Mixmaster and Scavenger for an instant, and then towards Hook.

"Combiner tech?" Hook asked, doubtful.

Scrapper sighed, moved past Blackjack to get to his work bench. "Blackjack asked me about it last night. He wants to know if his own team would be able to merge. I told him I'd have to run some tests first, to see if they're compatible."

Hook studied each of the Stunticons in turn. Admittedly, he had been more than a little curious to see if the physical and mental merging of members of other teams would work just as successfully as it had for the Constructicons. "Oh, I see," he said simply.

As Scrapper busied himself with sorting through a pile of data pads and modules, Blackjack seemed to grow more agitated by the astro-second, until he exclaimed impatiently, "Well? Are you going to do it or _not_?"

Scrapper turned to look at him, startled, and an awkward silence settled around the room. He was about to tell the Stunticon leader that he was currently busy with other things and to come back later, but then he thought better of it. The test itself wouldn't take too long, so he decided that he may as well get it over and done with now rather than have to put up with the demanding mech for the rest of the day. He shook his head exasperatedly, picked up one of the data pads on the bench and selected the test program. Then he made his way over to Blackjack, extended a probe from his hand held computer and inserted it into a port at the back of the mech's head without warning. "We'll start with you, then," he said, and began running the algorithms.

* * *

Having just returned from the North Tower, Skywarp entered the main research laboratory on the ground floor of the Central Tower, where his two trine mates, Starscream and Thundercracker, as well as Shockwave, Megatron and Soundwave, were gathered around a holo image of Cybertron and its neighbouring planets.

"The Autobots plan to negotiate a trade deal with certain worlds within the G Nebula," Soundwave informed the Decepticon leader, as well as the other Decepticons present. "For the purposes of obtaining more natural energon."

Megatron turned to his communications officer as he considered the latest news. Then he simply shook his head in disapproval. "It is not an unexpected move."

Starscream exchanged glances with his friends. "Apparently, those worlds drive a hard bargain. The Autobots may be successful in acquiring a fresh supply of crystals, but at what price?" he explained, voicing aloud the same thoughts shared by Megatron and Shockwave. "Cybertron will be no better off, and will only be further depleted of its natural resources in the long run."

Megatron nodded in agreement, and then with nothing further to say on the matter he turned his attention to the latest arrival. "Skywarp, what is the situation at our perimeter?"

"From what I can tell, it's getting worse. Small groups of rioters are trying to force their way in, and their numbers just seem to be growing by the hour," the seeker replied, crossing his arms.

"All looking for free energon, no doubt," Thundercracker commented.

Skywarp nodded in acknowledgment. "But it's not just here – it looks like all of Kaon's flipping out."

"Are they breaching our defenses?" Megatron asked him after a pause.

The purple and black seeker replied, "No; we're strong – for now."

At least that was one bit of reassuring news. "Good, but keep monitoring activity," Megatron told him.

Skywarp smiled contentedly. "No problem."

* * *

Scrapper removed the probe from Wildrider and glanced at the test results. He had already run the test through _twice_ on each Stunticon; the first round of tests had yielded uncertain results and he had been unable to explain exactly what the problem was, but Blackjack had insisted that he'd done something wrong so he'd agreed to do a retest, even having Hook help him to ensure that he was conducting it correctly.

He scanned through the readout in an attempt to determine the cause of the incompatibility, as Blackjack waited impatiently for an explanation. He had not expected such a result; in fact, since the Stunticons were all spark mates and shared the same creation event, just like his own team did, he could not see why the test should indicate a negative match.

Hook pointed to an anomaly in the readout, looking over his shoulder at the data pad. "There," he said. Scrapper examined the source of the problem, and realized that he'd made a fundamental assumption about the test subjects, which had caused him to miss the obvious.

"Well, what's the problem?" Blackjack demanded.

The Constructicon leader looked back at him. "The problem seems to be with _you_, Blackjack," he stated, pointing at the mech's chest with a finger.

"Me?" Blackjack exchanged glances with his team mates, trying not to appear worried. "What do you mean?"

"Well, the combining process that I created can only work when there's a strong bond between each team member. The test clearly shows that you don't share the same kind of bond that the others do," Scrapper explained, indicating towards the other four Stunticons with a sweep of his hand. "Sorry," he concluded, and with nothing more to be said on the matter he turned back to his work bench, putting down the data pad and shifting his attention back to his other tasks.

Blackjack's expression turned grim, and he clenched his fist in anger. Noticing his hostile reaction, Hook stepped in front of him with the intention of preventing a possible conflict. "You heard him. There's nothing more we can do. Now, we really do have other things to attend to, so I suggest that you all _leave_," he told him, in no uncertain terms. When Blackjack stared back at him stubbornly, he elaborated further. "Don't make me have to call Devastator," he warned.

After a few more moments, Blackjack backed down. Now was neither the time nor place to start a fight with the Constructicons, regardless of how much he wanted their combiner technology. And besides, he did not want to raise any further suspicions, particularly the Decepticon leader's, more than he already had. "Fine," he said, and abruptly turned to leave. "Let's go," he said to his Stunticons as he walked out, and the four of them began to follow him out of the workshop.

Scrapper turned to watch them leave, and then glanced towards his friend in puzzlement. "What's gotten into _him_?"

Hook just gave him a small shrug; he had no idea, either.

* * *

"How can we have failed that test?" Drag Strip queried his leader, exasperated, as the Stunticons gathered near the Central Tower's main exit.

"Does that mean we won't be able to combine like Devastator?" Breakdown asked disappointedly, cutting in before Blackjack could give Drag Strip an answer. Then Dead End and Wildrider began to ask him questions along the same vein, until the four Stunticons were all talking at once.

"Guys, guys!" Blackjack held up a hand to quieten them all down as he turned abruptly to face them. His team mates gathered closer around their leader, whose voice then noticeably dropped in volume. "Look… I'm not about to give up just yet. We might still be able to get the upgrade."

His team mates all looked back at him in confusion. "How?" Wildrider asked.

"Don't worry about the _how_ – you just leave that part up to me. All I need you guys to do is keep quiet about it, and–" Blackjack stopped short when he heard a heavily modulated voice directly behind him speak his name.

"Blackjack."

Blackjack spun around to see the Decepticon communications officer standing right behind him, and he felt a sudden surge of panic with the thought that Soundwave had overheard him talking.

But Soundwave gave him no indication as such. "Megatron wishes to speak with you," was all he said.

The Stunticon nodded apprehensively. "Uh, sure, Soundwave. I just have one small errand to run, and then I'll be right back," he replied, pointing a thumb back towards the Tower's exit.

Soundwave said nothing more, but simply continued to watch him, remaining where he was, and it made Blackjack feel incredibly uncomfortable. There was something about Soundwave that he didn't like at all, and he realized that it was probably due to the fact that he could never tell what the mech was thinking. Not to mention that he'd heard from Dirge once that apparently he possessed the uncanny ability to hear other mechs' _thoughts_.

Nobody should ever be allowed to have _that_ kind of power, Blackjack thought. He forced a smile at the mech, and then unhurriedly turned and walked away.

Soundwave watched patiently as Blackjack and the other Stunticons exited the Tower. Then, once they were out of sight, he pressed a button on his left shoulder to open his chest compartment. "Ravage, eject: tail Blackjack," he said, and the Cassetticon did as he had been instructed, transforming in mid-air into his jaguar-like form and leaping towards the main exit, determined to carry out his assignment.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Several hours later the Stunticons were back in Tagon Heights, spinning their wheels on the circular track as they goaded other road users into racing against them, or simply intimidated passersby with their antics.

Wildrider appreciated the freedom and exhilaration that came with owning the roads and being able to do as he pleased, whenever he pleased – unlike at the Decepticon base where he and his team mates were expected to answer to the established chain of command, and to follow their rules and code of conduct. It was for much the same reason, in fact, why he liked Blackjack much more than he did their former leader, Motormaster, who'd always liked to take charge of his team and rule them all with an iron fist. 'It's my way, or the highway,' he'd often said.

However, since Blackjack had nominated himself as their new leader soon after their defeat at Kolkular by the Decepticons, the Stunticons had enjoyed a newfound freedom that they had never been allowed to experience before. Unlike Motormaster, Blackjack didn't care what they did as long as it didn't get _him_ into trouble. In fact, they rarely showed up on time for any assigned tasks given to them by either Megatron directly, or more often by Soundwave or one of the Air Command trine. Sometimes, they wouldn't even bother to do anything at all, which usually meant that the Combaticons had to take over and complete the jobs that had been assigned to them.

Dead End came to a stop beside his team mate, Drag Strip, in vehicle mode, braking suddenly as he did so. "Hey, Dragster. Where'd Blackjack go? He hardly ever races with us anymore," he said, looking around for their team leader.

"He said he's meeting up with his old friend again. Said he'd be back soon," Drag Strip answered and, satisfied with that, turned himself around and performed a wheel spin before launching himself forward again onto the road.

Inside the domed building nearby, Black Shadow was already waiting for the Stunticon leader. He was accompanied, as always, by his sidekick Blue Bacchus, as he stood in the shadows near one corner of the room. "So, did you get it?" he asked, getting straight to business.

Blackjack looked back over his shoulder to make sure that he hadn't been followed, and tried not to let the feeling of paranoia get the better of him. _Relax_, he thought; he was alone. "Uh, well, you see, there've been some complications–"

Black Shadow stepped toward him, and for the first time Blackjack became aware of just how powerful and intimidating this mech actually was as he stood glaring at him. His easy-going, casual manner from the last time they'd met was now all but gone, replaced by a cold and unforgiving exterior. "I don't want to hear any excuses, Blackjack." Then he pulled back a little, considering the debt he was still owed for the case of natural energon crystals he'd offered the Stunticon as incentive. "You've got until tomorrow to give me the tech. Don't let me down."

Blackjack's optics widened in surprise. "Tomorrow?" He shook his head in exasperation. "I'm going to need a bit more time than that. I promise I'll get it to you–"

"Tomorrow, no excuses," the silver and red mech insisted. "I'll be waiting." Then he stepped away and walked out of the room through the open doorway to his right without another word, leaving Blue Bacchus alone with Blackjack.

"You heard him: tomorrow," Blue said, nodding mirthfully before giving him a cruel smile. "You know what happens to those who disappoint Black Shadow, don't you?" he threatened, his tone deceptively soft.

Blackjack stiffened, but said nothing. Despite only ever having dealt with the mech on a business level, he'd heard the rumours about what usually happened to Black Shadow's business partners when they did not make good on their promises, and he did not want to end up as another one of those statistics.

Ignoring the blue mech's sneering grin he quietly exited the building, his thoughts now turned to desperate measures.

* * *

Gangs of disgruntled Destrons and angry looters marauded Kaon's major cities and surrounding areas, which meant that it was not a good time for most mechs to be out on the streets alone. One such gang attempted to scale the outer wall of Kolkular fortress, the Decepticons' home base; however, the fortress was well built, and try as they might they could not penetrate its invisible force field.

Under the cover of shadow, Ravage watched them with interest as he waited for the Stunticons to return to base. He had followed the five car-formers to Kaon's border several hours ago, at which point they had sped away in the direction of Tyrest, and so he had decided that he would await their return rather than waste time and energy attempting to chase them across the border and into neighbouring regions; he simply would not have been fast enough on his own.

So he'd bade his time, and had waited vigilantly just outside Kolkular's perimeter, until his patience finally paid off. Alerted, he stood up on all fours as he watched Blackjack approach in vehicle mode, accompanied by his team mates, returning from his 'small errand'. Then he watched as the five mechs transformed into their robot modes and entered the fortress through the main gate using their standard security codes. Making certain he was not seen, Ravage began to follow them.

* * *

It wasn't until several hours later, when he was sure that the last of the Constructicons had left for the evening to recharge, that Blackjack dared approach their workshop entrance, looking over his shoulder left and right before reaching out to touch the access panel on the door. It was dark, and the Central Tower was still and silent as most of the Decepticons had already retired to their personal quarters for the evening.

For an instant, he panicked at the thought that perhaps access to the workshop would require special security clearance – in his hurry he hadn't thought of that – but then was relieved to discover that the door slid open upon his command, and he stepped inside the room. Stopping for a moment he activated his helm spotlight and then headed towards the same work bench from which he'd seen Scrapper pick up the data pad that contained the test program earlier that day.

He carefully sorted through the pile of data pads until he found the one he was after, picked it up and activated it. As he began to read through its contents searching for the plans he wanted, he heard the sound of someone moving around in the back of the workshop, and he looked up to face whoever was there, data pad still in hand. He had not expected anyone to be around at such a late hour, and cursed silently for not having checked the area more thoroughly beforehand. Regardless, it was too late to worry about that now.

A figure stepped closer until Blackjack could see that it was Scrapper. "Blackjack?" the green and purple mech asked in surprise, and then stood there watching him for a long moment before his gaze settled on the data pad in Blackjack's hand.

When Blackjack became aware of the focus of Scrapper's attention, he smiled and gave the Constructicon a small shrug. "Huh. Didn't think you'd be here so late," he said, attempting to sound casual.

But Scrapper wasn't buying it and he became quiet, watching the black mech with a sense of uncertainty and apprehension. Finally, he pointed towards the data pad. "What are you doing with that?"

"Oh, this?" he said in feigned surprise, holding up the pad. "Well, actually, I've been meaning to ask you for a small favour."

Again, Scrapper took several long moments to reply. The fact that his expression was hidden behind a face mask made Blackjack feel increasingly uncomfortable, not to mention irked. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.

Blackjack slowly stepped closer to Scrapper, glancing briefly around the darkened workshop to make certain that they were alone. When he was satisfied, he replied in a lowered voice. "I just wanted to see the plans for the combiner tech program, that's all." He held out the data pad for Scrapper to take. "Is it on here?"

The Constructicon shook his head slightly, as if this latest request by the Stunticon was proving to be all too much for him to deal with, and he slowly took the data pad from him, glanced down at the display before turning it off. Then he turned away to put it inside a drawer just behind him. "Why do you want to see it?" he asked, as he began to turn back to face Blackjack.

The next thing Scrapper became aware of was a disruptor gun pointed directly at his chest, and Blackjack's nervous smile was replaced by a somber frown. "Just show me the plans," the black mech said, and then indicated with the gun towards the stack of data modules and other equipment on the bench beside him.

Scrapper straightened slightly, but made no sudden moves as he tried to determine exactly what was going on, and what he should do. If he refused to hand over the plans for his combiner tech, there was no telling what Blackjack might do next. He supposed that it depended on just how desperate the mech was to get his hands on them; this was either a completely selfish act, or Blackjack was in some kind of serious trouble – Scrapper wasn't sure which. Finally he made his decision and slowly reached across to open the drawer behind him, all the while not taking his optics off the gun. "You won't be able to use it without a compatible team," he began to explain as he slowly retrieved one of the data pads from the drawer, but Blackjack was not interested in what he had to say.

His gun motioned towards the darkened display on the pad. "Show me," he said, obvious nervousness in his voice, and Scrapper turned on the display screen, input a security code to unlock the encrypted program, and held the device out in front of him. Blackjack's optics flashed briefly about the room in an effort to shake his uneasiness, and then he snatched the pad from Scrapper, looked down at the schematics on the display. After a few tense moments, he nodded in satisfaction before slowly looking up to meet the other's gaze.

Then, before Scrapper could do anything to stop him, Blackjack fired his gun. Scrapper staggered back a few steps as the powerful disruptor beam hit him directly in the chest, and he fell backwards onto the work bench behind him, off-lined.

Blackjack turned and began to head out of the workshop in a hurry, data pad in hand, but stopped suddenly when he heard the sound of a low growl near the entrance. In the darkened room, he could not see where it was coming from and he panicked, began to back away from the exit as he looked for another way out of the room. But before he knew what was happening, he saw a small, sleek form leap at him from the shadows and he stumbled backwards, flailing his arms as he attempted to knock it away in mid-air, but it managed to land on him with enough force that he fell backwards onto the floor. He became aware then that the attacker was one of the Cassetticons that worked closely with Soundwave – he recalled his encounter with the communications officer earlier that day and realized grimly that he must have raised his suspicions, enough for the mech to send Ravage to follow him.

As Blackjack struggled to get away, the jaguar-like form of the small Decepticon grabbed a hold of the data pad with his jaws and snatched it out of his hand, and in the time that it took for him to realize what had happened, Ravage had already leaped away back into the shadows, and was gone.

Left with no other recourse but to run, Blackjack picked himself up and bolted out of the workshop, transformed and sped down the hallway in his sports car mode, hoping to make a clean get away before Ravage alerted Soundwave and the other Decepticons of what he had done. However, he was already too late; just as he exited the Central Tower he heard the sound of the base alarm being raised, and then he caught sight of Soundwave waiting for him outside, concussion blaster aimed and at the ready. Before he could turn back to find an escape route, he felt the pulse from the blaster hit him full force, causing him to revert back into robot mode, and then a second pulse knocked him into unconsciousness.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Blackjack awoke to find himself lying on a berth inside a confinement cell, and the memory of last night's incident came flooding back into his processor. He slowly sat up, and the grim realization hit him all at once: not only was he in trouble with the Decepticons, but with Black Shadow as well – the consequences of which he feared far more. He let out a groan and stood up, walked over to the sealed door. He tried to open it but it wouldn't respond to his command, just as he feared, and he began to bang his fist against the door. "Hey, open up! Let me out of here!" he yelled, in the hope that someone outside could hear him.

To his surprise his demands were answered, as the door to his cell slid open less than a minute later. Onslaught, the leader of the Combaticons, stood outside the door watching him calmly. "Come on, let's go," he said, motioning for Blackjack to follow him.

As Blackjack began to walk down the corridor after the Combaticon, he briefly considered another escape attempt, but then thought better of it. Even if he did manage to evade Decepticon security and get away from Kolkular, he would still have to deal with Black Shadow – a sobering thought, indeed. Somehow, he felt that he would be safer staying where he was, at least for the time being.

Onslaught led him into a room located in one of the upper levels of the Central Tower. As he stepped inside he became aware of a number of familiar faces seated around an oval table, watching him. None of them spoke a word as he entered, and after a few moments Megatron broke the awkward silence. "Take a seat," he said.

Blackjack could tell that it wasn't so much an offer as it was a command, and he did as he was told. To his left was seated Thundercracker, then Soundwave, Scrapper, and Megatron directly opposite; to his right were his four team mates, and directly beside them and closest to him was Onslaught, who took a seat as well.

The Decepticon leader had his arms crossed in front of him as he leaned back slightly in his seat, watching the Stunticon leader with a look of cautious disappointment. Then he carefully placed a hand on a data pad that was resting on the table in front of him, and pushed it forwards toward Blackjack. "I've been meaning to speak with you," he said, taking his time, "but it seems that you have been rather unavailable as of late."

Even though Megatron kept his tone calm and even, something about the Decepticon leader put Blackjack on the alert. He looked down at the table, unable to meet the other's gaze as his mind raced with thoughts of all that had happened during the last two days, and how exactly he was going to explain his actions. He cleared his throat, and his nervousness clearly showed through his mannerisms. "I, uh," he started, but words failed as he struggled to come up with something even half-way believable.

"What were you planning on doing with this?" Megatron asked him directly, indicating towards the data pad, and Blackjack flinched, tried hard not to look away. He caught a glimpse of Scrapper, whose expression was as unreadable as ever behind his face mask, and he suddenly began to feel very uncomfortable. Megatron continued to watch him intently, and when it became clear that Blackjack was not going to answer his question he turned to address the other Stunticons. "Perhaps you four are able to answer for him?"

Breakdown sat up straight in his seat, his optics wide with dread. "No, Megatron, sir," he said, shaking his head sincerely. "We don't know anything about it."

"We have no idea," his friend Drag Strip added. Wildrider and Dead End both nodded in agreement as Blackjack looked down at his hands.

"No, sir, we haven't a clue," said Dead End.

Megatron nodded in contemplation, and then turned back to their team leader. "You have two options," he said, as Blackjack looked up to meet his gaze. "You can willingly tell us exactly who you have been in contact with, or I will have to ask Soundwave to extract the information from you. The choice is yours."

The room became very still for a long moment as all optics were trained on Blackjack. Struggling to hold a calm composure, his expression became strained as he glanced over at the communications officer. Then his head lowered slightly as he answered in a trembling voice, barely audible. "I promised Black Shadow the combiner tech… in return for three cases of energon crystals." As soon as he'd let those words out, the tension in the room noticeably increased.

This time, Thundercracker responded. "You did _what_?" He was unforgivingly angry, though he tried to keep his tone under control as his red optics glared back at the Stunticon leader. Then a realization came over him as he cast his gaze towards Drag Strip and Breakdown. "_That's_ why you two were able to get over-energized so easily, even after having been out all day long," he said harshly; apparently, they had lied to him about their 'great idea' when he'd questioned them in the common room two nights ago, and now their lack of response was only confirmation that what he'd accused them of was true. Their guilty faces – all four of them, in fact – said it all. Thundercracker shook his head in obvious disappointment, and then turned to the three Decepticons to his left. "What do we know about this Black Shadow?"

Scrapper answered him with a shrug. "Going by the stories I used to hear back at Iacon, Black Shadow is a merciless gangster who'll do anything for the right price. Apparently, he uses a sonic boom in jet mode to level entire buildings," he explained.

Thundercracker gave him a smirk; the irony was not lost on him. "Soundwave?" he asked then, switching his attention to the mech seated beside him.

"Scrapper is correct. Black Shadow, and his partner, Blue Bacchus, are both notorious bounty hunters and assassins. They have both worked for Overlord on numerous occasions," Soundwave replied. "I, too, have heard rumours concerning Black Shadow. One such rumour indicates that he did not originate from Cybertron, but from one of several of its ancient colonies of legend, purportedly located far beyond the reaches of this galaxy." Thundercracker and Scrapper both gave him curious glances at his detailed level of knowledge, to which he simply shrugged.

Then the three of them turned their attention to Onslaught as he spoke. "If there's any truth to those rumours at all, then the Stunticons here are in some serious trouble," the Combaticon leader said, indicating towards the four mechs to his right, and turned to address Blackjack directly. "But that's not the worst part. The worst part is that the _stunt_ you pulled is going to reflect badly on _us_ now," he continued, pointing around the table to indicate all other Decepticons, including those who weren't present in the room. He wasn't the only one who was feeling angry and betrayed by Blackjack's actions which, more than anything else, had undermined the very values and ideals that had given rise to the Decepticon cause in the first place.

Truth be told, none of them had expected Blackjack's blatant betrayal, but now they also had to deal with a potentially dangerous situation that existed with Black Shadow.

The main question then became what was the best way to handle the situation, and so finally, after pondering the dilemma for several long moments and taking into consideration all that he had heard thus far, the Decepticon leader spoke again. "Blackjack," he began, and waited for the mech to meet his gaze. "You will meet with Black Shadow once more to tell him that the deal is off." A look of consternation suddenly crossed the Stunticon's face as he heard those words, and he was about to protest the decision, half rising from his seat, when Megatron cut him off. "You will return to him whatever crystals you have left. If he refuses to accept your change of heart, tell him that he can take the matter up with me personally." Then he rose from his seat, indicating to all present that the meeting was drawing to a close. "Is that understood?"

The gathered Decepticons all looked to Blackjack for his response, but all he could do was slowly sit back down again in defeat, seeing no other option but to obey Megatron's orders. "Loud and clear," he said.

Megatron nodded, and then his voice took on a heavier tone, as if he were weighed down by what he had to say next. "One last thing; I will not hold it against you should you decide never to return," he said, expecting Blackjack to take the hint, before he finally added, "this meeting is over," and walked out of the room.

* * *

Wildrider, Drag Strip, Breakdown and Dead End spent the better part of the morning in their quarters, deliberately avoiding any interactions with the other Decepticons. Part of the reason was to save face, as news had spread quickly around the base regarding Blackjack's betrayal after that morning's interrogation, but mostly it was so they could come to terms with what they'd learned about Blackjack. Whilst they had known about the case of energon crystals that he had acquired in recent days, happy to share the bounty amongst themselves without telling the other Decepticons, they'd had no idea that their team leader had made a deal with a mech called Black Shadow, of whom they'd known nothing about.

"We're in the deep shaft now," Dead End said, breaking the gloomy silence that had settled around the room as they sat on the floor with their heads leaning against one wall, feeling dejected and sorry for themselves. "First, we turn our backs on Motorbreath, only to have Blackjack go behind _our_ backs to liaise with some notorious space pirate. What's going to happen next?"

"Maybe this Black Shadow will come after _us _now. Who knows how far down the shaft we're actually in?" Breakdown offered, but received only silent glares cast in his direction.

Then Drag Strip decided to take his frustration out on Breakdown. "We probably wouldn't be in this _shaft_ right now if you hadn't taken those crystals so readily."

"_Me_?" Breakdown defended, "Hey, I don't recall you saying no to them, either. You never even gave a frag about how Blackjack got them in the first place–"

"Hey, we're _all_ guilty of being stupid, okay?" Wildrider interjected, in a moment of rare wisdom and anger. "So let's just suck it up, and get our heads out of our afts."

None of the others had much to say to that, as they all began to realize, with some reluctance, that Wildrider was right.

"Well, whatever's going to happen now, I'm not going to just sit around all day doing nothing," Drag Strip added.

"Do you have a better idea?" Dead End asked him, and then added, "You know, I was expecting Megatron to kick us all out, truth be told. I'm surprised that he's let us stay."

They all fell silent again, but then after a few moments Wildrider stood up and walked across to the door of their private quarters. "Alright, enough moping around. I'm outta here."

His three team mates looked up expectantly. "Wait – where are you going?" Breakdown asked, as he cautiously stood up to follow him.

Wildrider looked back at them for an instant. "I need to go for a drive," he said, and then left the quarters without waiting for the others. His three team mates glanced at one another for a brief moment, before getting up to follow him out.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The low-set, rounded buildings and the wide, circular roads that littered the landscape of central Tagon Heights reminded Blackjack of much earlier days, when he'd spent most of his time racing with old friends like Detour and Hyperdrive near the superhighway known as Titanium Turnpike. He hadn't seen those mechs in years, however; not since he'd first joined Liege Maximus' forces and had teamed up with another group of mechs who had originally called themselves the Stuntmasters.

Now, as he stood looking out across the Industrial Quadrant, stunt racing was the farthest thing from his mind. He could see the domed building in the distance, the same building where Black Shadow would undoubtedly be waiting for him now. As he tried to figure out how exactly he was going to approach the mech, reluctant to get any closer, he heard a voice coming from directly behind him.

"You're late."

He spun around to see the dreaded mech standing there waiting for him, his partner Blue Bacchus right behind as he came down to land in his helicopter mode. "How'd you two find me?" he blurted out, and then instantly regretted it. He tried hard not to appear too worried, and spared a glance to look around; it was only the three of them out here.

Black Shadow held out a hand. "Give me the plans you owe me," he said, indicating towards his partner with a nod of his head. Blue Bacchus transformed into his robot mode, holding two full cases of energon crystals.

Blackjack dropped the half-filled case of energon crystals that he'd brought with him on the ground by their feet and took a step back, hands held out as if to push the two of them away, shaking his head. "Sorry, Black Shadow, but the deal's off."

The silver and red mech sneered at him. "I thought we had an _agreement_," he insisted.

"Oh, I know, but you see, I didn't have a choice," Blackjack explained. "It was Megatron… he told me to tell you that you're welcome to take it up with him." He continued to slowly back away, glancing over his shoulder looking for an opportunity for a quick getaway, and he saw one. Before Black Shadow had a chance to respond, Blackjack transformed into his sports car mode and with a screeching of tyres began to speed off down the road back in the direction he had come, south towards Kaon.

Blue Bacchus growled. "I'll stop him," he said, aiming his gun as he watched the dark figure of Blackjack speeding away. But before he could take a shot at the black sports car, Black Shadow pushed the gun away.

"Let him go," he said. "Megatron will soon learn what it means to cross me."

* * *

After leaving the Decepticon base behind, the four Stunticons drove through the streets of wider Kaon on their way to Tagon Heights. Scattered groups of homeless mechs walked around aimlessly here and there, every now and again assaulting the odd passerby in an attempt to steal whatever energon he had. The four of them stayed close together, avoiding most of the marauding gangs by keeping to the main highway.

"The situation's gotten worse. I wonder if it's like this all over Cybertron," Drag Strip said in exasperation.

"Nah. I'll bet the Autobot-run states are doing just fine," Wildrider replied cynically. "No energy shortage in _those_ parts."

As they approached Kaon's border and the neighbouring region known as Tyrest, several vehicles suddenly appeared before them on the highway, seemingly out of nowhere, speeding towards them from the opposite direction. As the vehicles approached ever closer, they realized that they looked foreign. Perhaps they were visitors from a neighbouring planet.

Dead End instinctively slowed as they came nearer, until the strange, almost wraith-like sleek black road vehicles – five of them in all – were right alongside them on the highway. Then, in an unexpected manoeuvre, the two leading vehicles changed direction suddenly in tight, ninety degree turns while slamming on their brakes, blocking off the highway right before he could pass through.

As Dead End slammed on his brakes to avoid colliding into them, another one swerved around the two that were blocking the road and accelerated towards him without warning, hitting him with such incredible force that he immediately lost control and veered straight into Drag Strip, then rolled over the top of him to finally crash into a large, fenced enclosure just off the highway, reverting to robot mode.

Wildrider attempted to sideswipe the two remaining vehicles that were coming for him and Breakdown, but it was too little, too late; he could not avoid the head-on collision that sent him flying into the air as one of them ploughed straight into him, while the other vehicle made for Breakdown, who swerved to avoid it, braking hard. Causing him to lose control, Breakdown spun off the highway to crash into a dividing barrier. Both he and Wildrider transformed into their robot modes just before impact.

The one that had slammed into Dead End now began to pursue Drag Strip, who had managed to spin around and take off in the opposite direction, but the black vehicle was far too powerful and easily caught up with him. Running him off the road, it caused the yellow Stunticon to crash into a tall pylon, forcing him to change back into his robot mode.

The four Stunticons remained where they'd crashed, too beaten to defend themselves from their attackers and unable to get away.

With exceptional effort, Wildrider managed to stagger to his feet. He could hear the five vehicles as they roared their engines menacingly, spinning their wheels only to lurch forward closer towards them and then braking hard. One of them stopped within mere inches of where he stood, whilst three of the goons continued to play this game, as if mocking Wildrider and his team mates, until he, Breakdown and Drag Strip were completely surrounded by them, while the fifth enemy vehicle was making certain that Dead End had nowhere to run. Realizing that they were essentially trapped, Wildrider turned his gaze towards his assailants, watching and waiting to see what their intentions were.

By now the scene had attracted a number of onlookers, and a crowd was beginning to form around them, as curious yet cautious mechs couldn't help but watch the drama as it unfolded in front of their optics.

"Look, it's Decepticons!" a voice in the crowd cried out in accusation, as the mech it belonged to pointed towards Wildrider, causing other voices to murmur and whisper all at once.

Then a collective gasp from the crowd filled the air as the black vehicles transformed into five robot forms. Two of them grabbed Wildrider by his arms, one on either side, and held him up between them, and he became all too aware of their powerful, non-Cybertronian frames, though they possessed the ability to transform.

Then one of them spoke, his voice gruff and his speech unsophisticated. "These them Decep-ti-cons," he said. "We come to teach thems a lesson." Then he laughed, his expression mean and his optics completely devoid of empathy. As the other four goons laughed along with him, Wildrider watched as two of them picked up Dead End and dragged him over to the rest of his companions, throwing him roughly on the ground beside Breakdown.

"What the slag do you creeps want?" Wildrider managed to ask them, but it only earned him a slug in the midsection.

"We be the Shadowmakers to you. An' this one's for messin' wit the Shadow," the thug said, and then delivered a second blow, "an' this one's for teamin' ups with the Decep-ti-cons," he finished, as his friend kicked Drag Strip hard as the yellow Stunticon lay on his side on the ground. Wildrider grunted, struggled to break free of their grip, but they were far too strong.

"Get slagged," he said, and watched as the expression on the bully's face changed into a menacing sneer. Then a right fist made contact with Wildrider's face, and he let out a loud grunt as his head jerked back with the force of the blow. When he thought that his punishment was only just beginning, the two mechs who held him by his arms suddenly released him, and he slumped to the ground beside his team mates.

The five thugs slowly began to back away from the four Stunticons as they looked down upon them with smug satisfaction, admiring the damage that they'd inflicted upon their victims. One of them then spoke again, his voice loud enough for all to hear. "Tell your Megatron… he stays out of Shadow's business." Then they transformed into their vehicle modes and revved their engines in a show of power and superiority, before turning sharply and taking off down the highway back the way they had come, forcing a path through the crowd and ready to run over any mech who did not move out of their way in time.

Wildrider struggled to stand and stumbled towards Drag Strip, who groaned at the damage his frame had taken. "Come on, get up," he pushed, helping the yellow stunt car to his feet. At the same time, Breakdown and Dead End began to pick themselves up, disoriented and in need of repairs. They glanced around at the crowd, which had by now grown to encompass all sides of the highway, forming a large circle.

"Ugh, what the pits was that all about?" Breakdown said, limping and eager to get off the highway, but then stopped as he saw the large crowd around them – there was even a small news crew determined to get the inside scoop, though it had arrived a little too late. "Uh, slag."

* * *

The small oil house, situated right at the edge of the main road that wound its way around Kolkular, was far too noisy and crowded for Motormaster's liking, yet it was the only one of a handful of oil houses that were still open for business in Kaon. He'd claimed an empty table all to himself, even though empty seats were sparse and many mechs were left standing; being a larger Destron, not many would have been brave enough to confront him about his lack of consideration, let alone ask him to share his table with other patrons.

Feeling rather moody and irritable, fuel canister in one hand, his thoughts were on the current energy shortage when the mention of Decepticons suddenly caught his attention, and he glanced up to see a view screen in the opposite corner of the room situated just above the bar, broadcasting the day's news. He tuned his audio sensors to the live broadcast to try and get a better pickup, but the cacophony of voices that filled the oil house was drowning it out, making it difficult. "Hey – turn that up, would you?" he bellowed at the bartender, who glanced back at him curiously before reaching for the controls to do as he'd been asked. All mechs present quietened down, turning their heads in his direction and then up at the broadcast, curious to see what was so interesting.

The scene on the monitor showed an aerial view of a congested highway, and a crowd gathered around four mechs. Though he could not identify them, the news report explained that a fight had apparently broken out near the Kaon border, and that a number of Decepticons had been involved. It continued to say that this was one of many other incidents that had been happening in several city-states as the direct result of the ongoing energy shortage, and that the new restrictions imposed by the Autobot controlled government in an effort to curb excessive consumption were responsible for these crime sprees, particularly within Destron states, perpetrated by various gangs.

Motormaster was about to dismiss the report and return to his drink, not too interested in the details of the incident, when the close-up image of one of the Decepticons filled the screen. He immediately recognized the mech as one of his ex-team mates, Breakdown, and almost crushed the can in his hand as his grip tightened around it. He let out a growl, swilled the rest of his drink, and headed out of the oil house in disgust.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The topmost point of the North Tower offered the best vantage point to keep an optic on everything that was happening on the ground below. It was Skywarp's place of choice when it came to guard duty, allowing him to easily see right around Kolkular and well into Kaon and beyond. In the far distance on the horizon he could even see Cybertron's primary space port, which seemed to hang like a large, dark cloud just above the Hydrax Plateau.

He'd been keeping a vigilant watch for the last few days, particularly after news of the incident with Wildrider and the Stunticons had spread throughout the base. Whilst there had been no sign of either Black Shadow or his goons since then, there'd been an increasing number of reports of gang related crime sprees, purportedly originating in Kaon, but that had begun to spread even into Autobot territory.

He spotted Onslaught and Brawl speaking to a couple of new Decepticon recruits just outside the perimeter of the fortress, and decided to have a little fun. Transforming into his jet mode, he swooped down from the tower in a swift, graceful action, before landing silently in robot mode to stand right behind the two recruits, who were facing the two Combaticons.

"Hey, guys," he greeted Onslaught and Brawl loudly. His arms were crossed in front of him as a sly grin appeared on his face.

Neither of the recruits had noticed his arrival, so when he suddenly spoke they jumped and turned sharply around in shock, expecting to be assailed by some unknown enemy. "_Fraggin' pit!_" one of them exclaimed, before realizing regretfully that he'd just sworn in front of one of the command trine, and he quickly cupped a hand to his mouth, optics widened in consternation.

Skywarp chuckled, before putting on his best serious expression, though Onslaught and Brawl could see right through his ploy. "You two are dismissed," he told the recruits, ignoring the Combaticons' none too amused expressions. "Go on, scram!" he emphasized with a nod of his head.

The two recruits glanced briefly at their instructor for some kind of guidance, but Onslaught said nothing, and they quickly remembered the lessons they'd been taught – respect and obey all orders from those of a higher rank, no matter how ridiculous or how disagreeable they may be – and the two made quick salutes before hurrying away apologetically, as if they'd just been caught looking at holo images of their favourite femme stars.

Skywarp watched them go, a grin returning to his face, as Onslaught tried not to show his own amusement. Instead, he slowly shook his head. "Would you leave the recruits alone, Skywarp?" he said.

Unperturbed, the purple and black seeker ignored his remark, as he looked around the empty streets that surrounded Kolkular. "It's been real quiet around here, lately. _Too_ quiet, almost," he said.

"It's probably because the derelicts don't have enough energy to keep trying to break into places," Onslaught replied, offering an explanation.

The darkness of the night cycle had just begun to settle, and it was getting increasingly more difficult to see through the dimness without switching to their night vision, as the street lighting that would have normally come on by now failed to activate due to the energy restrictions that had been imposed upon Kaon.

"Yeah. Maybe," Skywarp replied, and then indicated for them to accompany him back to base. "Come on, let's go check in with the others–" But as he spoke the sound of several car engines firing up at once just out of sight around the nearest street corner came within audio range and he stopped short, turned around in anticipation of some sort of unknown threat.

The three of them did not have time to move away or alert the base, as suddenly five black cars emerged from around the corner, revving their engines and accelerating straight towards them. As the vehicles approached, now only mere mechano-meters away, Skywarp saw a blue mech lean out of one of the darkened car windows, holding some sort of object in his hand.

"Watch out!" he called out, and with less than a few astro-seconds to react he leaped towards the middle of the two Combaticons, his arms spread out as if he was going to tackle them both to the ground.

Just before the grenade detonated where they stood in an eruption of white light and a deafening bang, a flash of violet electrified the air for a brief moment, and the three Decepticons disappeared.

Inside the ground floor of the Central Tower, the same violet-colored electrification suddenly filled the air and the three Decepticons rematerialized, tumbling to the ground in a heap, as the sound of an explosion just beyond the perimeter wall outside was followed soon after by the furious revving of car engines and the screeching of tyres in the distance. Several seconds later, they could hear the cars speeding away from Kolkular in a hurry.

Skywarp carefully pushed himself off Onslaught and stood up, before reaching out to offer Brawl a hand up, who took it. Once the two Combaticons had recovered from the sudden attack, they glanced towards the seeker in realization. It had all happened so fast that they would not have managed to react in time, but thanks to Skywarp's exceptionally fast reflexes, along with his special ability to teleport, the three of them had narrowly escaped from being blown to bits by an explosion at ground zero, executed by Blue Bacchus and the Shadowmakers.

"Thanks," Onslaught said, sincerely grateful.

"Hey, don't mention it," the seeker replied, depleted of energy yet content that he had saved his friends from harm.

* * *

Just outside the city of Tesarus in Kaon, a group of five black cars roared their engines as they accelerated at full speed, gliding over the smooth metallic surface of the dark and empty highway that ran past the city and into Tyrest. They did not take heed of road rules and took up every possible lane, even the adjacent walkways, as oncoming road users swerved to avoid a head-on collision with them. It did not seem to matter to them who they pushed off the road or ran over; they were lawless, and it seemed that no one could stop them.

As they continued on along the highway, they did not notice a large, purple and black truck pull onto the highway as they sped past. Nor did they seem to care when the truck began to follow them, keeping his pace steady a safe distance behind them.

* * *

Megatron stood facing the large, blank view screen of the control room as he listened to the latest public broadcast with detestation, audio only. He was not aware when somebody entered the room to quietly stand beside him, waiting patiently for the news broadcast to end before making his presence known.

"Megatron, Sentinel Prime wishes to speak with you."

The Decepticon leader turned to acknowledge his communications officer, "Ah, Soundwave," and made his way towards an unoccupied command station before taking a seat. Nearby, two of the other command stations were being operated by a couple of the new recruits, who tried their best not to stare or listen in on the conversation, always eager to make a good impression. "Put him through."

A few astro-seconds later and the image of Sentinel Prime appeared on the view screen. He did not look happy. "Megatron, would you care to explain to me why your Decepticons have been colluding with a wanted galactic criminal?" He had his arms crossed, and his face was set into a stern expression.

After the recent news reports claiming that Decepticons had been responsible for helping to instigate conflicts all over Kaon and beyond after forming partnerships with the likes of ultra-powerful robots such as Black Shadow, Overlord, and Sixshot, Megatron was not surprised at all to hear Sentinel's rant, but decided that he would allow the Prime to get it all out of his system before he corrected him.

Sentinel leaned in closer to the view screen, as if he were afraid that somebody might overhear the conversation. "You may not be aware of this, but Black Shadow is highly sought after by the Galactic Confederation for numerous violations of the spacefarers' rules of conduct. By joining forces with him, you and your Decepticons are now accomplices, and must be held accountable as such under the galactic treaty. Not only that, but you have also jeopardized our own peace treaty and have helped to put the entire planet in danger!" Sentinel paused to cycle a deep intake of air before continuing his rant. "I thought I knew you better than _that_."

Megatron slowly leaned back in his seat, gazing steadily at the Prime with intense, red optics. After recently having to deal with Blackjack, along with the threat of the current energy crisis situation, this was the last thing he needed to hear.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" he heard Sentinel demand, and so he decided to finally give him a response.

"Do you always believe everything you hear on the news broadcasts? I thought I knew you better than that." Megatron spoke in a calm and subdued tone, seemingly unperturbed by the Autobot leader's latest accusations against him and the Decepticons.

Sentinel Prime seemed to back down somewhat, as if it was the first time that he'd even considered the possibility that perhaps he had been wrong about Megatron. Still, he did not want to give in too quickly. "Are you telling me that the news reports are false, then?"

Megatron took in a deep intake of air, considered his answer carefully. "I can assure you, Sentinel Prime, that those reports are entirely false." Then he stood up and walked closer to the view screen. "Black Shadow is no friend of ours."

The black and red Autobot Commander shifted his position slightly, his arms still crossed in front of him. His expression remained grim, but Megatron could tell that he was faltering on his position. He took a few long moments to consider his response. "Very well, then. If that is the case, I have a proposition for you."

"A proposition?" Megatron repeated with scepticism.

"Yes. A handsome reward is being offered to any mech who is willing, and brave, enough to capture Black Shadow and his accomplices and return them to the Hub. I have already ordered for the seizure of his cruiser at the space port. However, as it stands many of our top mechs have already been sent off-world to secure our place in the upcoming negotiations, and along with the current energy shortage we will not have the proper resources necessary to keep a mech like him grounded for long, but that is where you would prove useful." Sentinel paused, considered the Decepticon leader expectantly. "Help us secure him, and in return I shall convince the Elders to have Kaon's share of our planet's remaining energy sources restored. It should be an easy task for you," Sentinel finished.

A cynical smirk appeared on Megatron's face as he slowly shook his head. "Oh, but it would be just like you to keep the reward for his capture all to yourself, would it not?" he said.

The Prime's expression grew dour, but he seemed to get the point, and after several moments he relented. "Very well, I shall split the reward between us."

Standing beside Soundwave, Megatron considered the Prime's proposal for a long moment. It was indeed a generous offer, particularly coming from Sentinel. In addition, Black Shadow still held a personal grudge against him and the Decepticons, as the recent foiled attack against Skywarp and the two Combaticons by the Shadowmakers only a few hours earlier had proved. Sooner or later, he would have to deal with Black Shadow, as well as his partner Blue Bacchus. "I shall do what you've asked," he agreed, and so with a self-satisfied nod, Sentinel abruptly disconnected the signal.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Early the next day, the Decepticons gathered in the meeting room to discuss the best strategy for capturing Black Shadow.

"I'm guessing that this Black Shadow's been importing energon crystals from a supplier off world, in order to fuel his attacks," Thundercracker mused, "and from what Blackjack's told us, I think we can all guess why he's decided to set his sights firmly on Cybertron… and us."

"He believed that he could acquire our combiner technology," Megatron affirmed, acknowledging Scrapper and the four remaining Stunticons with a glance, reminding them of their recent clashes with both Blackjack and Black Shadow's hench mechs.

"But since that deal with Blackjack's been called off, he thinks he can get revenge," Thundercracker added.

"Well, since he won't take 'no' for an answer, we'll just have to show him what happens when he goes up against Decepticons," Starscream said, formulating a plan of counter-offensive. "If we can find out where he's hiding and seize his energon supply, he won't be so keen to mess with us again."

After only a brief moment of consideration, Megatron nodded. "Then we need to move quickly whilst our resources are limited, before he can plan another attack. Is there any way for us to find the location of his base of operations without raising suspicions?" He glanced at his communications officer. "Soundwave?"

"Negative, Megatron," the blue and white mech replied. "Without narrowing down the search to a specific region, and with our currently limited resources, it would take too long." A moment of silence followed as everyone in the room tried to think of a workable solution to their problem.

Then Wildrider cleared his vocal processor, and all optics turned to him. "I think we might have a pretty good idea about where he's located," he began, tentatively at first. Then, once he'd captured their attention he continued, glancing briefly towards his team mates. "Uh, we went to Tagon Heights with Blackjack a couple of times. We only went there just so we could race, but now that I think about it…" he said, trailing off. Whilst he did not particularly like the idea of having to confess to such a guilty pleasure in front of Decepticon command, he'd rather that than be found guilty of betraying the Decepticon cause in any way, as Blackjack had been, so he decided that honesty would be the best policy in this situation. Besides, he did not want to be held accountable for failing to prevent another attack because he'd withheld critical information. Drag Strip gave him a hard look, but said nothing, whilst the other two Stunticons avoided any direct gaze with Megatron or the aerial command team. With this new information that Wildrider had just brought to light, the Decepticons would have a real chance at stopping Black Shadow in his tracks.

"Give Soundwave the co-ordinates," Megatron ordered him, and then turned to Soundwave. "Search the area for any sign of Black Shadow or his minions. In the meantime, the Combaticons and I will block any possible escape routes at the space port." He paused and looked back towards the Stunticons. "Wildrider, you and your team will provide Soundwave with backup."

Wildrider nodded purposefully, happy to be given the opportunity to pay the Shadowmakers back in kind. "Yes, Megatron."

* * *

The industrial zone of Tagon Heights seemed sparsely populated, exuding a distinctly lonely feel as Wildrider stood beside Soundwave looking ahead at the rounded building in front of them. His team mates Drag Strip, Breakdown and Dead End were with them, and the large, circular roadway that they'd used as a racing track was sprawled out behind them.

"Well, this is it. The same building that I saw Blackjack enter," Wildrider informed the higher ranking Decepticon. He looked about uncertainly, and wondered whether he had led them all here for nought, as if on a futile search for the legendary _Sword of Solus Prime_; he hadn't actually seen Black Shadow at this location with his own optics, had only assumed he'd been here from what he'd concluded about Blackjack's suspicious behaviour when he'd told them he was meeting up with an 'old friend'.

Soundwave walked up to the sealed entrance and paused to see whether he could pick up any signs of life, but other than the faint scurrying of subterranean turbo-rats and the sonar disturbances from micro bats, his ultra-sensitive audio sensors assured him that there was nobody around. He tried the door controls, but it was locked, so he activated his concussion blaster and fired at the access panel, overloading its control circuitry. The door slid open, and he stepped inside the building. "Let's take a look around," he informed his back up team.

The interior of the building was dark, and along one of the walls a couple of empty tables and chairs offered visitors the opportunity to sit and relax. Directly across from the main entrance, another sealed doorway beckoned for them to find out what lay waiting on the other side. Soundwave stepped towards it and pressed the door control, and this time it gave way, so he led the way through into a passageway.

After a short distance they began their descent down a long, winding staircase that angled steeply downwards. Once they'd reached the bottom, they activated their helm lights for better visibility inside the gloomy, silent cavern that greeted them. There was a control panel mounted on the wall near the stairs, and Soundwave reached for it, activated the chamber's ceiling lights. As the five Decepticons stepped further inside, observing the empty space of the cavern, a couple of turbo-rats scurried to get away from the commotion. There was no sign of energon crystals of any sort, nor was there anything there at all that might have indicated that Black Shadow had been here.

Then another door, mostly hidden and set into the smooth rock wall in the far side of the chamber, caught Wildrider's attention. "Look, over there," he said to the others, pointing.

Soundwave walked closer to the door to examine it, before taking a few steps back and drawing his blaster; there appeared to be no other way of getting it to open, so he set his weapon to plasma beam and fired.

* * *

Cybertron's main space port was located just above an area called the Hydrax Plateau, which was surrounded by the Sea of Rust. The dull, maroon color of the unstable rust channel could clearly be seen from the cockpit window of the Combaticon space shuttle Blast Off as he approached their destination. Inside his cargo bay were his Combaticon team mates Onslaught, Vortex, Swindle and Brawl, whilst the Decepticon leader was seated behind the main navigational console in his front section.

"The control tower is asking for our flight information," Blast Off said, his tone curious yet unconcerned.

"Proceed," Megatron said, giving him the go ahead.

"I'm relaying my designation and requesting to land," Blast Off replied. A minute of silence passed as he sought clearance to dock at the space port, and then he spoke again in a more surprised tone. "I'm being directed to turn around. Apparently, there are new restrictions in place for space travel."

"Hm, thanks to the Council of Elders, no doubt," Megatron said in realization. "Open a communications channel with the control tower. I will speak with them directly."

"Com link's been established," the shuttle informed him after a short pause.

"This is Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. We will be landing shortly."

After a brief pause, a voice came through the shuttle's com system. "Ah, I'm sorry but I'm afraid you'll have to turn back. We're under strict orders not to allow any ship to enter or exit the space port without a top level clearance."

"I see. Who gave you those orders?" Megatron asked. "I will speak with him."

"Uh, I'm afraid that it's prohibited for me to allow any–" the Autobot on the other end started, though he sounded unsure and was soon cut short.

"Allow me to speak to whoever is in charge. I will not ask you again," Megatron said assertively, his tone forceful and determined.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," came the reply again after a tentative pause, though he sounded afraid.

It was time for Megatron to scare him with a little bit of truth. "This is a matter of planetary security. If you do not do as I've requested without delay, I will hold you personally responsible for obstructing a military operation. Is that understood?"

The Autobot fell quiet, unsure of what to say or do, but then he finally made his decision. "Alright, stand by," he said, and the line went silent. Then after about a minute, a more familiar voice took over the com.

"Megatron? Please, accept my apologies. In order to ensure that Black Shadow is not forewarned, our ground teams have not been made aware of your mission. I am sure you understand," Sentinel Prime explained matter-of-factly, and then paused for a brief moment. "Of course, you are free to use the space port as you require."

Megatron nodded, satisfied, before giving the shuttle the go-ahead. "Take us down, Blast Off."

* * *

Wildrider stared into the dark, narrow passageway through the opening in the wall where the hidden door had been only a few seconds before. "Do you think someone's down here?" he asked no one in particular, debating the idea of stepping through and following it down as far as it would go.

Without replying Soundwave began to lead the way through, his helm light illuminating the roughly carved out stone tunnel that lay ahead. It appeared to be largely unused, and was far too narrow for most mechs to travel along this route in their alt modes, so they remained in their robot modes. After they'd travelled a fair distance, perhaps five hundred mechano-meters or so, the tunnel abruptly opened up into one of the junction points that led to one of the connecting bridges over the Rust Sea.

"This must be his secret supply route from the space port," Breakdown realized, as Drag Strip moved forwards to step onto one of the nearby elevators, but Soundwave stopped him with a hand firmly grasping his forearm.

"Wait! We are not alone," the blue and white mech declared as he spun around, pointing his concussion blaster back towards the tunnel. The light from his helm illuminated the opening, suddenly revealing a glint of blue frame before the mech that it belonged to moved quickly out of visual range. Without hesitation, Soundwave broke into a sprint after the spy, back the way they had come, whilst also ejecting the Cassetticon Ravage from his chest compartment, who transformed into mid-air and leaped ahead in pursuit.

* * *

The primary space port was predominantly guarded by an Autobot ground crew, as they stood by the numerous gateways that led to landing platforms and several storage hangars. Just beyond the gateways, the terminal and control tower stood tall above an ocean of liquefied rust. The powerful communications array atop the tower reached up into the sky, its tip illuminated by a constantly pulsating amber light.

Once Blast Off had touched down in one of the docking bays, he allowed his passengers to disembark before transforming into his robot mode, and looked around. Most of the shuttles that used the space port were Cybertronian, and hence did not need to remain parked inside a hangar or on a launching platform in shuttle mode; they simply transformed into their robot modes and walked out of the space port. Hence, the only cruisers present were off-world ships that were generally non-sentient, just like the handful of visitor crafts grounded on an adjacent platform.

A small group of Autobots were gathered around one of the foreign looking space crafts; a black, disc-shaped ship, which had been grounded by an energy net. A heated exchange was taking place between a mech and one of the crew, and neither of them noticed the Decepticon leader and the five Combaticons as they approached.

"How dare you attempt to ground my ship? You have no authority over me – I am here on important business!" The solidly built silver and red mech regarded the Autobot with disdain. He was far larger than any of the ground crew, who seemed to be afraid of him.

"We have direct orders to bring you in. If you'll just come with me–" The Autobot was cut short as the larger mech let out a growl in anger.

"I am leaving within the hour. Do not try to stop me, Autobot, or you _will_ regret it!" Then he turned to confront the Autobots who had seized his ship, but stopped short at the sight of the six Decepticons standing nearby. For a fleeting moment a look of astonishment touched his face, but then his expression turned to one of scorn. "Well, well. I have heard so much about you, Megatron. It's good to be able to finally put a face to a name," he said, showing no concern.

Megatron crossed his arms in front of him, watching the mech intently. "I believe that you and I have a score to settle, Black Shadow."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Hey, where'd he go?" Wildrider looked to Drag Strip and Dead End for any clue as to where the spy had gone to, but after following the narrow tunnel all the way back to the empty chamber it seemed as though he'd simply disappeared. "Are you sure it wasn't just some apparition you saw, Soundwave?" he asked the communications officer, only half-joking.

Soundwave did not give him an immediate response, but walked slowly along the walls of the chamber, stopping when he'd reached the bottom of the steep, winding staircase. Almost a minute later Ravage reappeared, quietly climbing down the stairs until he reached the bottom. Finally, Soundwave replied without turning to the Stunticon. "It was Blue Bacchus. You saw him, too," he said, and then paused again as if he were communicating with Ravage, who had his attention fully focused on his guardian. Then Soundwave began to climb the stairs. "He is outside," he told the Stunticons, and they all began heading back up towards the ground floor of the domed structure.

With his blaster at the ready, Soundwave burst through the exit and stepped outside into the open air of Tagon Heights. He looked up towards the sky, locked onto his target – a blue helicopter already several hundred mechano-meters in the air, and fired his blaster. The four Stunticons stepped out of the building after him and looked around, before quickly realizing what he was aiming at; it was no apparition, and it was getting away. They joined Soundwave in his intention to bring the helicopter down, firing at him with their own weapons, until one of them managed to hit his tail rotor. Blue Bacchus spun wildly out of control for a moment, before stabilising as he almost crashed into a distant building, but then managed to regain control before he moved off in the direction of the Hydrax Plateau, out of sight.

Soundwave slowly lowered his weapon, keeping his gaze focused on the distant skyline, before he turned to address the four Stunticons. He was about to tell them that he would let Megatron know of what they'd found when the sound of engines starting up from somewhere behind them stole his attention, and he turned back towards the building, his weapon still drawn. The sudden appearance of the dark, menacing figures of the Shadowmakers told him that they had just stepped into an ambush.

The black vehicles had emerged from a side road just behind the building, heading straight towards the Decepticons. "Uh, slag!" Dead End exclaimed, as he and his companions watched in alarm.

The enemy cars began to drive around them in a close circle. "We're trapped," Breakdown said in a defeated tone, as he and his fellow team mates stood facing them, back to back. They tried quickly to come up with a plan of escape, but the five menacing forms threatened to run them all down should they make any wrong moves. "Soundwave, do something!" he shouted.

Whilst the communications specialist was doing his best to keep the enemy at bay, there wasn't much he could do to get them out of harm's way.

"We'll all be road kill by the time they're done with us!" Drag Strip exclaimed. As he spoke, one of the cars lurched forwards, ramming into him and causing him to fall backwards. His team mates caught him, remaining in a tight circle about him as they attempted to keep the Shadowmakers at bay, but the cars were obviously playing with their victims, teasing them before intending to go in for the kill; indeed, the sound of their taunts and mocking laughter could be heard over the loud noise of their engines.

Amidst all the mayhem and confusion, they were not aware of the distinct sound of a rumbling, idling engine, coming from somewhere behind them. Then a deep, booming voice called out, disrupting the Shadowmakers' fun. "Who dares challenge the Stunticons?!"

The Shadowmakers stopped in their tracks; their contemptuous taunting ceased as all five transformed into their robot modes before turning to look behind them to see who had spoken. It was a large, purple and black semi-trailer, blocking the road only a few mechano-meters away. Scowls appeared on each of their faces as their attention was diverted away from the group of Decepticons. Their hands clenched into fists as they began to approach the strange truck, intent on teaching it a lesson.

The truck called out to them once more. "Nobody gets to kick their exhaust pipes but _me_!" he declared, and then he began to move forward, his powerful engine roaring to life, the Shadowmakers directly in his path.

The four Stunticons, now all but forgotten by their assailants, looked at one another in astonishment as they realized who had just showed up in their moment of need.

"_Motormaster?!_" Breakdown pronounced in disbelief, watching in stunned silence as their former leader headed straight for the group of five robots standing before them.

The Shadowmakers barely had enough time to leap out of the way to avoid getting run over, and seemed unsure of what to do or who, exactly, they were now dealing with.

Soundwave and Wildrider reacted quickly, indicating for the rest of the Stunticons to scramble out of the way before the truck ran them over as well. But before they had a chance to do so, Motormaster swerved away from them at the last second, changing direction abruptly as he circled around in pursuit of the Shadowmakers, who had all transformed into their vehicle modes once more.

With a mighty roar, Motormaster aimed for the five foes. They revved up their engines in an attempt to counter the truck's threatening presence, but then faltered and scattered in all directions as the large and powerful semi showed them who was boss; it soon became clear to them that he would not be intimidated by them, but was intent on taking them out.

Wildrider watched for several more seconds as the former Stunticon leader relentlessly chased down one of the Shadowmakers, causing him to eventually lose control and swerve off the road. However, it soon became evident that one truck alone would not be able to keep up with all five cars; as soon as Motormaster managed to corner one, the other four would attempt to ram him from behind, or target him with their laser weapons.

Wildrider transformed into his grey sports car form without a second thought. "Come on; let's go help bust 'em up!" Then, without waiting for his team mates to follow his lead, he shot forwards to slam into the rear of one of the Shadowmakers as it attempted to back away from the large truck. That was all it took for Motormaster to run over the dark form of the hench mech, the sound of strained, twisting metal resulting from the crushing weight of the semi turning the car into a wreck. This had the effect of immediately instilling dread in the other four Shadowmakers, and as they attempted to flee the other three Stunticons were already blocking their getaway paths with their vehicle modes.

The four Stunticons began to corner the four remaining Shadowmakers while Motormaster intensified his efforts to smash or run into them, one by one, as if they were nothing more than practice drones.

"_Woohoo_! Now this is what I call fun – a real demolition derby!" Wildrider exclaimed, as another enemy vehicle lost traction and began to spin out of control off the road until it crashed, front first, into a solid pole, and was violently forced off-line with the impact.

Nearby, Drag Strip and Dead End had chased down a third Shadowmaker, and soon had it trapped in between them. As the goon tried to find a way around them, the two Stunticons let loose a barrage of laser fire upon him, which caused him to revert back into robot mode. He attempted to escape, but was too slow; Drag Strip helped to hold him down while Dead End knocked him offline with a burst from his compressor gun aimed directly to the back of his head.

The last two Shadowmakers attempted to drive away, but did not get far as Wildrider and Breakdown helped Motormaster to block the roadway. Wildrider transformed and leaped towards the two black car-formers in robot mode whilst spraying them with his laser beam weapon, and Breakdown quickly followed suit, using his concussion rifle upon them to help disarm them.

Once the two Shadowmakers realized that they could not escape in their vehicle modes, they transformed into their robot forms, ready to defend themselves or attempt to flee. However, they managed to do neither, as they suddenly came face to face with the front grill of a massive truck, and before they could yell out in surprise, they were crushed beneath his front wheels.

* * *

Black Shadow stood his ground before the Decepticon leader, who was marginally taller and larger than he. "Maybe so, but unfortunately I can't stay," he replied, feigning regret, and attempted to continue on his way, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"You're not going anywhere," Onslaught warned him.

Black Shadow's expression changed to a threatening scowl. "Oh no – you see, that's where you're mistaken," he replied, and then broke free from Onslaught's grasp as he jerked away suddenly to step back and activate his double rifles, firing mercilessly upon the five Combaticons. Onslaught was caught off guard and, hit with the full force of the firepower was temporarily incapacitated, but Swindle and Brawl responded immediately with their own weapons, opening return fire; the former activating his blaster whilst his team mate wielded his barrel rifle. Black Shadow, realizing that he was outgunned, turned to flee, transforming into a large black jet and shooting up into the bright sky.

"Blast Off, make sure he doesn't get too far," Megatron said, glancing upwards at the receding target.

"I'll do my best, Megatron." The Combaticon immediately transformed and took off into the air after Black Shadow at full speed, circling around in a wide arc whilst firing his cannons upon the jet in an attempt to force him to turn back around.

Not wasting another second, Megatron looked towards Onslaught, who had sufficiently recovered from Black Shadow's attack. "Are you up for a little target practice?" he said, before leaping up and transforming into his gun mode.

Onslaught caught the weapon easily in his hand. Then, knowing what he needed to do he aimed the gun at the target using its scope, and fired. The powerful blast hit the jet's nosecone, and as Black Shadow began to spin out of control Blast Off quickly finished the job, taking him down.

* * *

After Motormaster and the four Stunticons defeated the Shadowmakers, Soundwave advised Megatron of the situation before he rejoined the Stunticons, who had all transformed back into their robot modes. The five wrecks of Black Shadow's minions lay strewn all about them, but their attention soon moved towards the large truck.

Motormaster transformed into his robot mode and looked about him at the carnage he had caused in satisfaction, before finally diverting his focus to his former team mates, and the Decepticon communications specialist standing beside them. Whilst the five of them suspected that the large Destron still held a personal grudge against them, it wasn't until his gaze settled upon Soundwave that his expression turned particularly sour. He advanced purposefully towards the blue and white mech, intent on pounding him into the ground for the way he'd treated him when they had last met. As he got closer, however, his ex-team mates leaped forward to stand between the two of them in an attempt to stop him.

"I will deal with you four later. This piece of slag is _mine_!" Motormaster declared in his thunderous voice, pushing them aside to grab hold of Soundwave, who stepped back out of his reach.

"No, Motormaster–" Wildrider started, struggling against the size and strength of the heavy truck, who continued to push his way through them.

Then Motormaster stopped and turned to him abruptly. "Stay out of my way, or you will all end up like _them_," he said, indicating towards the wreckages of the Shadowmakers. He set his sights on Soundwave once more, but his former team mates remained adamant, determined to make him listen.

"Motormaster, just hear us out!" Breakdown implored quickly.

"Look, we're sorry about the way we mistreated you. We were wrong," Dead End added, speaking as sincerely as he could manage, and Motormaster hesitated.

Drag Strip, determined to get their former leader to listen, added to their petition. "Yeah, he's right. I mean, you really saved our tail pipes!"

Motormaster was about to respond, growing tired of their words of extolment and ready to dismiss them all, when Wildrider cut him off, the words he had to say next forcing him to pay attention.

"We want you back as our leader… if you'll join the Decepticons."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Astonishment soon turned to anger, as Motormaster cast his gaze once more over all four of his former team mates. "If you think that I'm going to take orders from a bunch of insignificant, good-for-nothing _Decepticons_–"

"No, you don't understand. Please, just hear us out, okay?" Breakdown interjected. "And then, if you're still not convinced, we promise we'll leave you alone."

Motormaster considered his offer, and then finally agreed. He took a step back and crossed his arms, waiting expectantly to hear their excuses. They had better be good; he wasn't the kind of mech to change his mind on anything so readily. "Go on," he prompted.

Breakdown glanced nervously at his team mates before he turned back to face Motormaster. "Look, the truth is we need you. There's just no Stunticons without you."

Drag Strip nodded affirmatively, laying his pride aside for this rare moment. "He's right. We're pathetic without you."

The large Destron placed a hand to his chin in thought. "What about Blackjack?" he asked, noting the former Stunticon's absence.

The four of them looked at one another. "Uh, he's… not coming back," Drag Strip answered, shrugging as he glanced down at the ground.

"Yeah. And besides, he was never cut out to be our leader," Dead End agreed.

Motormaster glanced from the four Stunticons to Soundwave and then back again, eyeing them all with a critical optic. He was beginning to warm to the idea of becoming the Stunticon leader once again, but decided that he would keep them working for a little bit longer. "Why would _I_, Motormaster, want to join the Decepticons?"

Breakdown offered to answer his question. "Well, for one thing, Liege Maximus is gone. We – I mean, the Decepticons – they defeated him. And they defeated Straxus and his army of zombies."

"Plus there are no Autobots or other Destrons to worry about. We can pretty much do what we want," Dead End explained.

"As long as Megatron approves," Breakdown corrected, nodding.

"Megatron is a far better leader than any other Destron ever was," said Wildrider.

"Is that so?" Motormaster said, genuinely curious. That was a bold statement to make about any mech, and he found himself thinking over their words carefully.

Drag Strip nodded. "It's true. He's fair, and he's strong. He doesn't let anybody take advantage of us."

"Think about it; what have you got to lose?" Wildrider pointed out.

Motormaster had listened to all they had to say with reserved interest, and then he finally spoke. "Very well. I shall be your leader again – on _one_ condition." He paused, looked back at the four of them with smug satisfaction.

Breakdown glanced at the others with slight concern on his face, but then shrugged, faced Motormaster once more. "Sure, Motormaster, just name it."

For the first time in a long while, the large truck smiled, though it was a devious one. "If you truly want me back, then… from now on, you will all do _exactly_ as I tell you, without complaint. And, as your leader, I expect all of you to show me absolute _respect, _at all times. In return, and to show you that I mean well, I expect all of you to wait on me hand and foot for an entire month, as punishment for turning your back on me. And you will, of course, thank me for not reducing you all into flattened sheets of scrap metal!" he said abruptly, staring at the four of them with stern optics.

Drag Strip looked down at the ground while Dead End met Wildrider's gaze in consternation; however, they realized that they would have to resign themselves to Motormaster's terms if they wanted him back as their leader. It was true that he could be a hard taskmaster, but there was no doubt from any of them that he would also be able to bring out the best in them.

"Whatever you say, boss," Dead End replied, speaking for his team mates.

"Good." Motormaster nodded in approval and satisfaction, and his reinstated team mates couldn't help but turn to one another and high five in celebration.

"The Stunticons are _back_!" Wildrider proclaimed triumphantly.

* * *

Onslaught watched as the Autobot ground crew transported the inert form of Black Shadow, who had reverted back to his robot mode when he'd crashed to the ground on one of the launching platforms, to a secure transport shuttle. "Think Sentinel Prime will keep his end of the bargain?"

Megatron had also transformed back into his normal form, and stood beside him along with the other Combaticons. "I expect that he will, if only to keep me on side. Until the day that we are no longer of any use to him," he answered with displeasure; he knew the Prime's usual modus operandi quite well, and that expecting anything different of him was pointless.

The sound of commotion in the distance diverted their attention towards the main gateway, where they saw the group of Autobots running to catch a moving target in the air, their weapons firing. As the target moved closer, the Decepticons saw that it was a blue helicopter, which they immediately identified as Black Shadow's partner.

Blue Bacchus had broken past several of the space port's security checkpoints, and was circling around a few times, as if deciding what to do. Then his rotors began to spin at a much faster rate, and as they did so the Autobots who were standing directly beneath him began to levitate upwards towards him, unable to fight back. A few moments later, he began to fire a round of laser blasts down upon them. However, his advantage over the Autobots was short-lived when he soon found himself being pursued by Vortex, who had transformed into his helicopter alt mode and was heading straight for him.

Once Vortex was within reach of Blue Bacchus, the Combaticon's rotors began to spin at an incredible speed, forming a very effective whirlwind that caused the rival helicopter to spin wildly out of control.

On the ground, Onslaught saw an easy opportunity to help bring the wanted space gangster down. Pointing his sonic stun gun at the target he aimed and fired, and an instant later the blue copter fell to the ground with a crash.

* * *

"Do the right thing by us, and we'll do the right thing by you." The next day, Thundercracker informed Motormaster of the Decepticon code of conduct and the way things were done, as he took the reinstated Stunticon leader on a quick tour of the base, before inviting him to join the other Decepticons in the meeting room. "Just watch, and learn," the blue and grey seeker advised him, and the two of them took their seats upon entering the room, where many of the higher ranking Decepticons were already gathered.

Megatron indicated to Soundwave with a nod and the communications expert activated the large view screen, the image of Sentinel Prime immediately appearing before them. The Autobot leader looked pleased, though he maintained a defensive pose, his arms crossed, as he greeted the Decepticon leader, who was seated closest to the screen.

"Ah, Megatron, I must congratulate you. Black Shadow and his partner are now in our custody on Jarr, where the Autobot protectorate will soon hand them over to the Confederation." Sentinel paused for a moment, aware of the many optics and audio sensors focused expectantly on him. "As promised, you shall have your share of the reward – four cases of energon crystals – plus a further two from the supply that was confiscated from the space cruiser. Unfortunately, however…" Then he trailed off, shifted his gaze to some faraway place off screen.

"Unfortunately, what?" Megatron prompted. He did not like where this conversation was going.

"In light of your most helpful assistance in capturing the criminals, I have tried to convince the Elders that it would be in Cybertron's best interests to allow Kaon access to the planet's remaining sources of energy… however, they have insisted that it would be irresponsible of them to do so without first making a request of their own," he explained.

Starscream regarded the Prime with disapproval. "A _request_? Why does it not surprise me, Sentinel Prime, that you have gone back on your word? Never trust a lying _snake_!" he admonished the image on the view screen, in no uncertain terms.

But Sentinel appeared unfazed by the accusations from the Air Commander. "No, you misunderstand," he replied calmly, though he did not meet Starscream's gaze but instead kept his focus on Megatron and the rest of the Decepticons. "I had no idea they would respond in such a manner, believe me."

"Oh, I _don't_ believe you!" Starscream shot back. The Prime received a further round of backlash from the other Decepticons, and the room broke out in a slew of voices all speaking at once.

Megatron waited until they had all gotten their frustration towards Sentinel Prime and the Autobot Council of Elders out of their systems before he addressed the Prime once more. "And what sort of a _request _would that be_, _Sentinel Prime?" he asked, more out of curiosity than any intention of actually agreeing to a renegotiation.

The red and black Autobot leader inhaled deeply and nodded. "It is a simple one. They have requested that you share with us any new technology that you have developed, including that teleportation bridge of yours, and the combiner protocols for gestalt teams. If we are to work together to find a viable solution to the energy shortage, they believe that it would be best to combine our resources."

"I knew it!" Starscream shook his head in disparagement, crossing his arms in front of him. "He is no better than Black Shadow," he said aloud, while the rest of the Decepticons joined him in expressing their frustrations once more.

Finally, Megatron stood up to face the view screen. He would make sure that there would be no misunderstanding on Sentinel's part. "_That_ is out of the question," he said without compromise, and then turned away from the monitor with the intention of ending the conversation.

Sentinel's demeanour changed to one of frustration, as he attempted to convince the Decepticon leader of the worthiness of the Council's decision. "Don't be a stubborn fool, Megatron! It is a fair offer. Listen to me – how do you expect your Decepticons to survive for too much longer without energy?"

The room quietened down, and all attention was focused on Megatron as they waited to hear his response, but he did not give Sentinel any further acknowledgment, and instead indicated for the communications link to be disconnected. Once it was done he answered the Prime's question, loud enough so that all in the room could hear him. "We shall find a way."

* * *

Later that evening, while the Stunticons spent time in the common room welcoming back their leader, Onslaught, Thundercracker and Skywarp entered the room, discussing the events of the day.

"Hey," Skywarp greeted them all, as he and his two companions approached the Stunticons, who were gathered in a small group by the energon dispenser. "We were just talking about you lot." His attention was drawn to the large black and purple mech, who was enjoying a canister of energon along with his team mates. His physical presence was rather intimidating, and he had a stern look about him as he towered above the others. His size and strength were probably evenly matched with Onslaught's. "You must be the new guy," Skywarp said cheerfully, regardless.

Motormaster grimaced, looking down at the seeker, and noted that they shared similar colors. He did not appreciate being called 'the new guy', but he decided to let it slide this time; he knew that Skywarp obviously meant well and besides, he wasn't in the mood for making an enemy out of him – at least, not on his first day as a Decepticon.

Thundercracker introduced him to Skywarp and Onslaught. "This is Motormaster, leader of the Stunticons."

"We heard you came to their rescue in Tagon Heights," Onslaught said to Motormaster, referring to the four Stunticons, "made scrap metal out of the same losers that tried to attack us and Brawl the other day," he continued, indicating Skywarp and himself. "Soundwave told us all about it."

Motormaster was not used to being appraised in a positive light, nor did he feel comfortable with their show of friendship. Plus, he still hadn't completely forgiven Soundwave, so he decided to change the topic. "It is late in the day cycle, and we need our recharge." Then he placed his empty canister inside the receptacle near the dispenser, and started to make his way out of the room. As he reached the doorway, he turned briefly to the other Stunticons. "Yes, I was talking about you four idiots – _get a move on_!" he ordered them.

The four Stunticons glanced at one another uncertainly, but then they all rushed out of the common at once to catch up to their leader. As Breakdown bolted past Onslaught, the Combaticon caught him by the forearm. "What's up with _him_?" he asked.

Breakdown stopped momentarily to answer. "Oh, don't worry about Motormaster – he just doesn't like other mechs. But he'll come around eventually, you'll see." Then he hurried to catch up after his team mates without waiting for a response.

The three Decepticons watched them go, and then turned to look at one another. Skywarp shrugged. "You know, I have a good feeling that Motormaster will fit right in," he said, keeping a straight face, as Thundercracker and Onslaught chuckled in response.


End file.
